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TRAINING BEGINS NOW!

He had fought with one of the boys before; @Atshen. But he had made a promise to his nephew, and he would uphold that promise, even if he was not here.

The old assassin tipped his head back, howling for the four Apaata pups. They were growing, growing strong and fast, and soon to have competition. He wondered how his niece's children would grow up to be. As fierce as Nemesis'? Only time could tell.

He did not choose a clearing for them to fight in; you rarely fought in clearings in the first place. No, he would train them as he would be trained: sporatically, in random places and at random times. They would have no control over their surroundings, nor the conditions; since no one ever did.

He knew a few of them by face, though no by name. @Abraxas he had met once, eating the flesh of a decomposed wolf. The others, the girl @Astrid and the third son @Keelut, he only saw at the pack meeting. It mattered little now; they would get to know him sooner or later.

Astrid, though she clearly liked getting hurt, was indeed a fighter. Not only did she have the fire in her soul that was needed to kill, she also possessed the feisty, sadistic mindset a fighter would have. It wouldn't even matter if she were to encounter a being that could go toe to toe with her - pain made it all the more interesting. There was no doubt in the girl's mind that what she had to become was a warrior of grace, not a lame mother like her own. Perhaps even children she did not want, but she would discover soon enough that there was little choice on that matter. Her life and love had been promised not by herself, but by her mother, and she could no nothing against it.

When the call of Miraak, though she did not know his name, touched the air - calling for her and her brothers, she did not hesitate. It was not a lot that her presence was asked for, and she did not like letting her fellow Dark Brothers and Sisters down. Of course, the rest of the world could suck it. Sprinting to where the Reaper was, she felt the same burning sensation in her legs that made her go faster and faster through the snow.

She reached him, swiftly and gracefully coming to a stop without a word. Her scars were still healing, but she was healthy otherwise. Her bi-colored eyes said enough; What were they doing here?

For a moment he thought he had her, a stalker in the snow, invisible to all but Anna, ready to pounce at his sister's oblivious reality. But when he did, with the momentum he'd been building up for the past minutes, she no longer was there to his mercy. She'd stormed off to tend to the a unexpected call, the old one's, the one with the stories. 'Uncle' was what the dark prince had called him, and uncle was the only way Keelut knew to call him.

Like Astrid, Keelut jolted off of his guise and sought the place where he was being summoned to, only to find it particularly casual and indistinctive. He was there, imposing and alone, awaiting the arrival of the spiderlings in silence. Astrid was silent too, and to her the blue eyed Apaata walked up to greet her with a brotherly bite to her ear and a hug-like rub of his cold and still snow-covered fur. His attention was divided then between the expressive eyes of his sister and the unforgiving ones of Uncle. What were they, indeed, doing here?

Only two heeded his call, but that was enough. These were the two he did not know, which made this session rather auspicious. The single girl approached, her star-kissed coat glittering. He nodded briefly at her approach, but said nothing waiting for another. Soon enough, the pale boy arrived, silent also. He waited again, but when it became apparent that no others would arrive, he rose to his feet.

He distinctly remembered his first lesson. It immediately showed him what his training would be like. Sudden, brutal, and fast. There was no room for mercy, not among killers, and they must be taught that as soon as possible. Nemesis' lot, he was sure knew that, but how well? His indigo eyes locked on them, devoid of any anger as he snarled and lunged forward at Keelut, intent on snatching the boy up into the air. He was small enough, and Miraak was still strong enough, where he could briefly be held by the Reaper. What his sister would do remained to be seen.

She squinted at the strange man as he kept his mouth shut, unsure of his plans and motives. If he would not explain, what was the point in staying? Then again, she had nothing else to do, so leaving would also have no point. It was a battle within herself until the soft crunching of snow reached her speckled ears, knowing who it was from just the scent. Keelut. Of all her brothers, she disliked him the most. Abraxas was quiet to the point where they could communicate without words and Atshen spoke up, but Keelut? All he did was giggling and running. It was not that she hated him, it was just that if her brothers were hanging from a cliff and she could only save 2 - he would not be rescued.

As soon as Keelut reached them, he went for her and Astrid pulled up her lip. She did not pay attention to him and instead focused on the man whom they knew as "uncle". It was good that she did though, for he came snarling and jolting towards them. She was surprised he did not go for her, and for a moment she was afraid they had made him angry, but that did not seem like the case. Still, she was the only one that could pick on her brothers, and she made it known by a snarl. She went for the man's neck or otherwise at least the side of it - much like with Atshen whom she had only been able to grab near the chest. Keelut and her could take this man, if Keelut wasn't such a wimp as he appeared to be.

He wasn't done pestering his clearly annoyed sister when the Uncle grabbed him by the scruff without previous notice. Keelut couldn't do anything but kick the air around him in an instinctual struggle to free himself from the larger male's grasp, but it was fruitless. He was helpless against the old man's power, and the feeling sparked something inside the child that not even he knew could happen. He growled, a deep growl that was nothing like the playful rattles that he dedicated his siblings when play fighting. This was a snarl full of anger and desperation, and he quickened in the larger male's grasp with ferocity as he lashed out with his claws to try and harm his wrong-doer.

Perhaps, if they did things right, both Astrid and Keelut could take this brute down before it was too late. That had been the first time Keelut had put a death sentence on a wolf.

There is naught for Keelut to do but to flail in his maw, but Astrid was free to move and attack. And attack she did; the girl lunges, aiming for the shade's neck and latching on. Miraak snarls and tosses Keelut aside, focusing his energy on removing the star-speckled girl for now.

She succeeded in freeing her brother, which felt like a victory for the small Nyx - that was, before the man focused his attention on her. Without much panic on her eyes, she tried to avoid the man's struggles by lowering her body - trying to back out and silently pleading for Keelut to help her now. She rumbled still - her growl a sign that she was not giving up and was just recovering a wee bit.

With Astrid's help Miraak releases Keelut from his tight grip. He's thrown aside, and the boy lands on his side. He's beaten, aching, but his drive is much more powerful than pain. Vengance, for what he'd done, for what he was about to do to his sister. Miraak had to pay, and pay he would with Keelut's straight ahead attack. He lunges for whatever Astrid is not holding, and there he clings as he tugs in whatever direction Astrid is pulling. He works with her, he works against the old guy, and together, he believes they have the power to win.

Astrid submits, lowering her body to make his assault that much harder. Miraak is wary of her, wondering if she would try to have his attention reverted to her brother, leaving his body open to a strike from her star-kissed body. For that reason, he continues his attack, jaws clamping on her back, not hard enough to crush a rib(s), but enough to bruise. While his mouth is focused on the girl, the rest of his body shakes, trying to remove the boy from his vulnerable body.

She refused to scream and plead for mercy as his jaws clamped around her back - luckily not drawing blood. With this, however, she was free to reach his chest and neck since her body was lowered already. She tried biting everywhere she could reach - her mind set on hurting but not totally ripping. Growls still rippled from her throat as she did so and she waited for her brother to potentially free her.

Keelut fights against the old man's greater strength. Astrid is by his side and their efforts add to each other as they charge up on the uncle in tandem. But they are fairly tiny and the man before them is still blessed with force. He swings the pups away, perhaps just pushing Astrid aside, but flicking Keelut away in a flight from which he landed hardly on his head against a tree stump. He breathes but he's not conscious, his heart beats but there's no sign of movement. He just lays there, but he's simply somewhere else.